Stories of Kindness from Around the World

For my daughter's 19th birthday in December, we bought her tickets to go and see Linkin Park, as they were playing in our city in the UK.  We didn't really have the money but we knew how much this band meant to her, and she'd seen them years earlier with her Dad.

The night before she was like a kid at Christmas, all pink cheeked, shiny eyed and giddy with aniticipation. Every so often she got up and came to sit with us, because she couldn't sleep.  On the night  of the concert it was good to see her so happy and excited, as she and her boyfriend set off.

Needless to say when they returned after midnight , with t-shirts, a programme and lots of video and pictures of the band, listening to her gushing about how fantastic they had been, we knew that the money had been well spent. This will be a memory she would never forget, and nor would we.

Still full of excitement from the night before, the following day they decided to go to the shopping centre on the other side of the city.  My husband and I laughed as we talked of our daughters giddiness the day before, loving the fact she had not lost that quality as she grew up into the woman she is now. We wished we had the energy they had for despite getting in after midnight, they were up early and set off out again after breakfast.

Later that day when they returned, still full of energy and with faces full of happiness and warmth, they came and presented my husband and I with a gift each.  On each present were the words "because you are the best mum/dad in the world". When we said our thank you's and told her she didn't have to, we asked her why she had bought us gifts.  Her answer was simply  "just  cos I love you". 

She explained she just wanted to show us she appreciated us, and that despite not having the money, we had made it possible for her to see her favourite group, who had meant so much to her as he had been growing up. It was a birthday gift, one of many she has had over the years, yet to her it meant so much more, and she wanted us to know that , and acknowledged it with a token of thanks.

This wasn't something new from our daughter; she had always given us a gift when she wanted to express her feelings, and each gift was always a welcome surprise. It could have been anything, it wouldn't have mattered, it was the act itself and the sentiment behind it.

Call me smug but I know i did something well and good when I raised my daughter, a daughter who believed in fairies, and wanted to show you how much you were valued and loved. It is true what they say, it is better to give than to receive! My daughter taught me that from the minute she was born,and still does to this day.